The door suddenly blew open while conversing with Ade Kunle in my living room. Thinking it was merely the wind, I arose and shut it again.
But it wasn’t the wind, Ade Kunle explained.
It was a Spirit. A powerful, familiar one. It was Baba Aseda, a man we both revere as a father because he’s always been there for us. Through the power of orisa, he has guided us through many challenges over the years.
Aseda is one of the 16 major Ifa diviners in the world, and in the spring of 2003, he initiated both of us into the orisa tradition.
He is without doubt one of the driving force behind what I do – and what my ancestors insist I must become.
According to Ade Kunle, the front door swinging open was Aseda’s way of making sure his presence is felt, proof that he’s listening to our conversation and monitoring every word.
I don’t doubt this but why was the old man visiting now?
Because I had just inquired about a secret, a mysterious, spiritual power that both Aseda and Ade Kunle have knowledge of. I know nothing about this power and was hoping, once again, that Ade Kunle would tell me about it, or at the very least, give me a hint.
Opening the door and entering in Spirit was Aseda’s gentle way of saying certain secrets must remain secrets. However, I’ve been told that eventually I will understand this mysterious power on my own.
I love mysteries and the Yorubas safeguard many of them. In Yoruba culture, just because an elder knows your destiny, don’t think that he/she will reveal it to you all at once. You’ll be waiting for a long time.
A little information now and a bit more information later, perhaps. I’ve learned to be patient. If the seers reveal everything to you how can there be room for self-discovery and self-mastery? It’s similar to wanting to be buff without going to the gym.
I was grateful for Aseda’s surprise visit in Spirit and was happy to finally see Ade Kunle in person again. It’s been more than a year since the brutal U.S. recession forced him to leave Oakland, CA and move back to Nigeria.
I looked younger, he told me, better than I looked when we last saw each other. I was happy to hear that. Who knows? Perhaps leaving Corporate America to work on my film miraculously restored my youth.
Ade Kunle looked good, too. A lot more gray flecks in his beard, though. And a lot more pensive than I’ve ever seen him before.
“I’m not the same Ade Kunle as before,” he tells me. The elders have taken him to deeper places, he explained. And he’s been exposed to strong rituals. Rituals far beyond the understanding of many in the Diaspora.
And he hinted at other mysteries: powerful medicines and soaps that he brought from Nigeria, powerful people that I will meet during my next trip to Nigeria, spiritual things that the elders are doing to support the upcoming film.
How he managed to get strong medicine into the U.S. was fascinating. At the airport in Nigeria and at each layover on his way back to Oakland, he uttered powerful incantations in Yoruba each time security personnel reached into his carry-on bag to try to take the bottled-liauids per airline regulations.
My conversation with Ade has inspired me all over again. There are many things that I dislike about Nigeria: corruption, mismanagement at every level, grinding poverty and pollution, hostility in high and low places.
Yet the more I journey into his culture, the more I realize I am a Yoruba at heart and have the backing of powerful souls that have a lot to say to the world. My task is to humbly step aside and allow these souls to speak.
For the first time in a very long time, I look forward to returning home.
The spirits of the dead may play a much bigger role in our health, wealth and happiness than we realize, says Dave Cumes M.D., an accomplished surgeon who is also known for his expertise in African healing traditions.
Cumes has taught at Stanford University and has a private urology practice in Santa Barbara, California. He is also a fully initiated “sangoma”, or medicine man who spent years studying the sacred healing traditions of his native South Africa.
He is committed to bridging Western medicine and African healing wisdom.
“Western scientists believe that they are on the cutting edge of the new age of healing. However, we may have missed the boat entirely. We may be technical wizards but when it comes to the human spirit, we are really only beginners,” says Cumes.
“Many sangomas cannot read or write but they understand the principles of healing better than most Western-trained physicians,” adds Cumes, who lectures extensively and also provides spiritual readings, or divination sessions for clients.
Cumes believes Westerners can learn a lot from African sacred traditions. “Although some of the principles are difficult to understand, they work. They are the roots of healing, and they are still practiced to this day. We can only benefit from what we can learn from them,” Cumes says.
Perhaps Westerners can start by developing a relationship with their ancestors. “Indigenous African people believe in the ancestors and that they are there to help, protect and sustain us. If your ancestors turn aside, you are defenseless in life, like a paper blowing in the wind. If we are attentive and listen carefully for their messages, we will enjoy more health, wealth, and happiness,” he says.
In his book, Africa In My Bones, Cumes cites a study conducted by researchers at John Hopkins Medical Center which suggests a link between health and one’s relationship or lack of relationship with family.
“Researchers at the John Hopkins Medical Center studied the health of a group of more than one thousand medical students from the classes of 1948 to 1964. Researchers discovered that those physicians who developed cancer had much lower scores on closeness to parents, especially to their fathers,” says Cumes.
Cumes, who will share some of his insights in “Across The King’s River,” an upcoming documentary film by James Weeks that explores African healing traditions and modern science, says the research is still ongoing. “As Westerners, we might say that the parent’s love created lifelong balance, stability, and meaning and that it facilitated good health in the child. Indigenous African belief, however, may attribute the progeny’s good health to the dead parents’ and the grandparents’ protective spirits,” explains Cumes.
Weeks said it is gratifying to see that the Western medical establishment is finally starting to see value in what African healers have been saying and doing for centuries. “Maybe one day when you visit your doctor in the West or a psychologist, they’ll ask: ‘Do you have a relationship with your ancestors?” says Weeks with a laugh.
And how does one build a relationship with ancestors?
“One of the most effective ways to connect with ancestors is to set up an ancestor altar or shrine,” says popular African shaman Malidoma Some. “Doing so provides us with an invaluable tool to help focus our attention and awareness of their presence in our lives. It is also a tool to help deepen and nurture a relationship with them. There is no correct way to build a shrine to the Ancestors; use your intuition and imagination! It can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. Let the ancestors guide you!”
Malidoma, one the leading voices of African spirituality in the West, will also be featured in the film Across The King’s River. On his website, www.malidoma.com, Malidoma provides the following tips for building an ancestral shrine.
Choose a comfortable location in your home (or on your land) that can be designated as sacred space.
Choose a table or flat surface of any size or shape. Using a space on the floor or ground is fine.
You can choose to cover the surface or not. If you do, choose a cloth of any color or fabric. Items to put on the shrine can include:
Photographs of deceased family members or names written on paper
Cherished personal items passed down to you from relatives
A glass or bowl of water
Candles
Flowers or plants
Rocks or dirt from your Ancestors’ place of birth or homeland
Food and drink. This can be a small portion of your meals set aside for the Ancestors. Or you can place fresh fruit on the shrine
Spirits of alcohol, i.e. vodka, gin, rum, whiskey
Keep in mind that what is important is your sincere effort and good intention. Building an altar to the ancestors can be fun! There will come a time when the Ancestors will speak to you about what they want on their shrine. Pay attention and just listen!
How you honor and revere your ancestors is a personal thing. At your altar you can pray, talk, sing, chant, cry, meditate, recite poetry, etc. You can whisper or shout to them the most intimate details of your life. There is no right or wrong way to communicate with them and pay your respects. The important thing is that you do, and that you are sincere and genuine. It must come from your heart! In return, the ancestors will provide guidance, encouragement, and support. In time, your relationship with them will grow and you may find that you look forward to a daily commune with your ancestors.
For more information on Across The King’s River, visit www.acrossthekingsriver.com
After studying the divinations techniques of Chief Obafemi Fayemi and Christopher Sangodare Brown, I've finally branched out to begin offering spiritual readings to the public. I was initiated into Ifa in 2003 by Aseda Agbaye, one of the 16 major Ifa diviners and priests in the world.
Although Ifa predicted many years ago that I would actively divine for others, I often wondered when the prediction would come to pass. I've learned that the words of Ifa do indeed manifest but often not exactly when we think it will. It's important to stay open and leave everything in the able hands of the orisas and the ancestors.
Divination is a beautiful and mathematically precise way of getting spiritual guidance to help you through current challenges. Not sure what decisions to make? A reading will give you the clarity to lead a more successful and harmonious life. My offering of spiritual readings comes from a place of reverence and service. If you would like to schedule a reading, please call me at 510-388-5500 or email me at james@acrossthekingsriver.com
Film producer, James Weeks, says he’s guided by three things: the power of visions, the power of stories and the wisdom of the heart.
And once you allow yourself to be guided by these three principles, you can’t go wrong, he insists.
That’s how Weeks began a recent speech at Harvard University. The charismatic, Oakland-based producer was on campus to discuss the core themes of his upcoming documentary film, Across The King’s River, which goes into production in the summer of 2012.
Directed by Emmy-award filmmaker, Stanley Nelson, Across The King’s River explores the sacred and healing traditions of Africa while following Weeks and his daughter on their quest for transformation in the Motherland.
“It’s essentially a film about finding and fulfilling your life’s purpose, but we also hope to inspire others to follow their visions,” Weeks explains.
Why does he always emphasize visions, stories and the heart?
“It’s simple,” he says. “If you’re not clear about your vision, you’ll be tempted to stop when you should move forward. Stories are important. The story of who you are and where you’ve been can bring healing to others. The heart is a seat of high wisdom and you must learn to trust it. The heart always knows, but the head always doubts,” Weeks says.
Across The King’s River gives viewers a rare glimpse of three African cultures: the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria, the Lebu people of Senegal, and the Dagara of Burkina Faso. The film also explores the connection between African spiritual traditions and modern science.
Donna Christensen, Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress, strongly supports the upcoming film. “As a doctor and as a student of history, I am interested in learning about any new perspectives that this documentary will share with the world. It is an important link to how humans have dealt with health and healing throughout the centuries. It can only add to what the scientific and historical community knows about the experiences of people on this planet.”
Charles Finch, M.D. former Director of International Health at Morehouse College, says, A documentary detailing the ideas, philosophies, and healing approaches of a group of Yoruba sages – with a special focus on Ifa – is timely and germane to the challenges facing the 21st century.”
In this delightful lecture punctuated with humor, insight and personal anecdotes, Chief Babalawo Oluwole Ifakunle, affectionately known as the “Babalawo of Harlem,” gives an overview of Ifa divination and the role it can play in our lives.
I recently met Baba Ifakunle at a conference at Harvard University entitled “Sacred Healing and Wholeness in Africa and the Americas.” The symposium and the lecture was organized by Funlayo Wood, a doctoral student in African and African-American studies at Harvard.
“We can see into the future if we know how to read signs and symbols. It’s about the synchronicity of life,” says Baba Ifakunle, a professional diviner who was initiated into Obatala and Ifa more than 20 years ago. “Divination is an attempt to see beyond our five senses and to understand the root causes and solutions to issues that we might be facing.”
“Ifa is about balance,” he adds. “The work that I’ve done has been rewarding to me. It has been life – changing to me and to others.”
I was struck by Baba Ifakunle’s warmth and sincerity when I met him. It was refreshing to meet another Awo who is passionate about his craft and the clients he serves. In the lecture below, Baba Ifakunle talks briefly about his childhood, and how he was visited by Spirits at an early age.
He also discusses Obi divination, the importance of “iwa” (character) and how ancestral energies and problems are sometimes transmitted from one generation to the next. And he spoke of how “diviners are born – not made”. Baba Ifakunle insists that one of the ultimate goals of a diviner is transcendence, becoming one with the universal energies.
As a student diviner, I was inspired as he recounted how Ifa divination helped him cure one client of cancer. And I laughed when I heard the story about the African who could have won the New York lottery but unfortunately did not. Oh well!
For more information about Baba Ifakunle, or if you’re interested in readings, orisa-inspired products, or to book one of his dynamic lectures, you can visit him at Baba Ifakunle’s website
